Tone vibrator



March 4, 1958 sw1TT 2,825,257

l TONE VIBRATOR Filed Sept. 11, 1956 I NV EN TOR.

Sci/@y Pfiff Unite States Patent O TUNE VIBRATOR Schley Witt, Rose Hill,Va.

Application September 11, 1956, Serial No. 609,179 s claims. (C1.stt-sla) This invention relates to a musical instrument, and moreparticularly to a tone vibrator for a musical instrument.

The object of the invention is to provide a tone vibrator for use with amusical instrument of the stringed type whereby the device can bemanually operated to set-up vibrations in the instrument.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tone vibrator for amusical instrument of the stringed type, the tone vibrator including alever which is adapted to be manually moved whereby a clamp which isarranged in engagement with the strings of the instrument will set-upvibrations so as to permit the user of the device to produce the desiredtone or sounds.

A further object of the invention is to provide a musical instrumenttone vibrator which is extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, and inwhich like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout thesame:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a musical instrument showing the tonevibrator of the present invention mounted thereon, and with parts brokenaway and in section.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral designates a portion ofa musical instrument such as a guitar, banjo or the like, and theinstrument 10 includes a body 11 which has the usual tail piece 12secured to an end thereof, Figure 1.

The musical instrument 10 further includes a bridge 13 which is spacedfrom the tail piece 12, and the bridge 13 may be secured to the body 11in any suitable manner. The bridge 13 is provided with a plurality ofcuts or slits 14 through which extend the strings 15, the strings 15having an end secured to the tail piece 12. The bridge 13 is furtherprovided with a slot or cutout 16 for a purpose to be later described.

The present invention is directed to a manually operable tone vibratorwhich can be used for setting up vibrations in the strings 15 so as toprovide the desired tone or sound as the musical instrument is played.The tone vibrator of the present invention includes a lever 17 which hasone end thereof curved as at 18 so as to define a finger grip wherebythe lever 17 can be moved so that the vibrations can be set-up. Thelever 17 is provided with a plurality of spaced apart openings orapertures 19, the lever 17 extending through the slot 16 in the bridge13. There is further provided a suitable securing element such as thescrew which extends through one of the openings 19 and through thebridge 13 and into engagement with the body 11 as shown in Figure 3.

The tone vibrator of the present invention further includes a clampwhich is indicated generally by the numeral 21, and the clamp 21includes a pair of spaced apart bars or plates 22 which are arranged onopposite sides of the strings 15. The plates 22 are each provided with aplurality of registering openings 23, Figure 4, and suitable securingelements such as the bolts 24 extend through the openings 23 formaintaining the plates 22 connected together. One of the bolts 24 servesto connect the clamp 21 to an end of the lever 17, the clamp 21 beingarranged at right angles with Vrespect to the lever 17. Thus, bymanually engaging the portion 18 of the lever 17, the lever 17 can bevibrated or moved since the lever 17 will pivot about the bridge 13 andthis will cause similar vibrations to be set-up in the clamp 21 so thatthe vibrating effect can be imparted to the plurality of strings 15whereby the desired sound or effect can be produced or provided.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that there has been provided a tonevibrator for use with a musical instrument such as the instrument 10. Inuse the parts are arranged in the drawings so that the clamp 21 ispositioned between the bridge 13 and the tail piece 12. The claimp 21includes the pair of plates 22 which are arranged on opposite sides ofthe strings 15, and the plates 22 are connected together by means of thebolts 24. The clamp 2l is arranged at right angles with respect to thelever 17, and one of the bolts 24 connects an end of the lever 17 to anend of the clamp. The lever 17 is also secured in the slot 16 in thebridge 13 by means of the screw 20. Then, when the instrument is beingplayed, the user can manually engage the curved portion 18 of the lever17 so as to set-up vibrations in the lever 17 as shown in Figure 2.These vibrations will be transmitted to the clamp 21 so that thevibrating clamp 21 will cause the strings 15 to have the desiredvibrations whereby the necessary or desired tone can be produced. Thus,different types of tones can be provided and will increase theversatility of the musical instrument.

Furthermore, due to the position of the plurality of openings 19, thescrew 20 can be extended through different of the openings 19 so thatthe clamp 21 can be moved or adjusted to different positions between thebridge 13 and the tail piece 12. The plurality of bolts 24 serve tomaintain the pair of plates 22 in clamping relation with respect to thestrings 15 of the instrument.

Thus, it will be seen that there has been provided a tone vibrator whichincludes the lever 17 and the clamp 21, the clamp 21 being connected tothe strings 15 of the instrument, and wherein the clamp is positionedbetween the bridge and the tail piece of the instrument. The curvedportion 1S of the lever may t in the palm of the hand when the hand isin playing position so that by moving the portion 18 the desiredvibrations in the strings are brought out. l`he device of the presentinvention can be used on various types of stringed instruments such asguitars, banjos and the like, and the device can be made of any suitablematerial and in any desired shape or size. The clamp 21 is spaced abovethe body 11 of the instrument as shown in Figure 2 so that the clampdoes not touch with body of the instrument. The clamp 21 can be moved oradjusted to different positions between the bridge 13 and tail piece 12so as to bring out the desired effects.

l claim:

l. In a musical instrument, a body, a tail piece secured to said body, abridge spaced from said tail piece and secured to said body and saidbridge being provided with a plurality of spaced parallel slits, aplurality of spaced parallel strings each having an end secured to saidtail piece and said strings extending through said slits, there being aslot in said bridge, a tone vibrator including a Patented Mar.l4, 1958.

lever extending through the slot in said bridge, a securing elementextending through said lever and into engagement with said bridge, and aclamp connected to said lever and arranged in engagement with thatportion of the strings between the tail piece and the bridge.

2. In a musical instrument, a body, a tail piece secured to said body, abridge spaced from said tail piece and secured to said body and saidbridge being provided With a plurality of spaced parallel slits, aplurality of spaced parallel strings each having an end secured to saidtail piece and said strings extending through said slits, there being aslot in said bridge, a tone vibrator including a lever extending throughthe slot in said bridge, a securing element extending through said leverand into engagement with said bridge, a clamp connected to said lleverand arranged in engagement with that portion of the strings between thetail piece and the bridge, said clamp including a pair of spacedparallel plates arranged on opposite sides of said strings, there beingregistering apertures in said plates, and securing elements extendingthrough said apertures, said plates being arranged at right angles withrespect to the longitudinal axis of said lever and secured thereto, anend of said lever being curved to provide a finger engaging portion.

3. In a musical instrument having a body and a tail piece securedthereto, a bridge secured to said body and spaced from said tail piece,said bridge being provided with a plurality of slits, a plurality ofstrings secured to said tail piece and extending through said slits,said bridge having a slot therein, a tone vibrator extending through theslot in said bridge, a securing element extending through said tonevibrator and into engagement with said bridge, and means connected tosaid tone vibrator and arranged so that it is in engagement with thatportion of the strings between the tail piece and the bridge.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 607,359Forrest Y 'Ju1y 12, 1898 1,978,583 Kemer oct. 30, 1934 2,073,226semiekei Mar. 9, 1937

